Businesses in hospitality need more from Government that the £1bn grant support package announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak today - that's the message from North West business leaders.
Business, particularly those in hospitality, leisure and retail, have been hit hard by the spread of the omicron variant and resulting wave of cancellations as people choose to restrict their social activities.
Mr Sunak today brought forward a package of measures including grants of up to £6,000 and statutory sick pay support.
Read more: Everything we know on the new Omicron business support grants
Manchester's night-time economy adviser Sacha Lord tweeted simply: "It’s not a package. It’s an insult."
Before the announcement was made, he tweeted: Support package being announced today. It's pathetic. Won't even touch the sides or save jobs. We all need to continue to ramp up the pressure."
And speaking on Sky News about the health of Manchester's nightlife, he said: "This is a moment now where hospitality needs clarity, it needs certainty, it needs steadiness, and it needs strong leadership - and that's certainly lacking from this Government at the moment."
Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool BID Company said: “This bailout will barely cover overheads for many businesses and continues to show that the government does not understand the nuts and bolts of running a business.
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"With 50% of their income being made in this crucial Christmas period, and with takings down 60%, many will be questioning their survival in 2022. Livelihoods should not be part of politics. We will continue to lobby for support, locally, regionally and nationally to ensure those that have lost income do not continue to fall behind."
Iain Hoskins, who runs Liverpool's Ma Pub Group with venues including Ma Boyle's Eatery & Alehouse and Tempest on Tithebarn, said the package would not help him or his staff.
He said: "Well it’s a start at least – our industry has been asking this question for weeks. So it appears without furlough for now the plan is to let us stay open but the reality remains that trade has dropped hugely at the busiest time of the year for hospitality. It’s devastating.
“The point is that it costs me more to stay open than when we are closed and while I don’t think anyone is expecting to have all lost Christmas sales reimbursed by the government, the £6k grant is a drop in the ocean at this time of year. That’s not being ungrateful – that’s the truth.
“It’s a start if follow up packages are to come after Xmas. But it simply doesn’t go anywhere to address the issue of our staff as most rotas are being cut the bone to keep our overheads down as a means of survival. Unfortunately this doesn’t help our staff who like anyone else who work want the hours and the money, especially at this time of the year.”
Paul Cherpeau, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber, said: “This latest support package from the Chancellor will provide an enormously welcome relief for businesses in leisure and hospitality, which have seen a potentially disastrous decline in custom over the past few weeks.
“We are pleased that the government has heard our calls for additional grant funding for businesses in those sectors and we would also urge them to extend support to operators in the live events supply chain, which have also suffered significantly during December.
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“Greater flexibility on tax payments means businesses can have some breathing space and the measures around sick pay will give operators greater confidence to keep going if and when key members of their team test positive for the virus.
“It is important now that this support reaches affected businesses as swiftly and efficiently as possible in order to minimise the severity of the damage they are experiencing and ensure the impact does not become terminal.”